Trolley-wheel blank and method of making same



May 20 1924 W. S. BIDLE TROLLEY WHEEL BLANK AND METHOD Filed May 10 I922 fig-l Patented May 20, 1924.

STATES A orr cs.

WILL S. BIBLE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, IGNOR TO THE COPPER PRODUCTS FORG- ING COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND,

OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

TROLLEX-WHEEL BLANK AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME.

Application filed May 10,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. Bmm, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Trolley- -Wheel Blank andMethod of Making Same, of which the following is a s ecification. The general object of this invention is to provide a hardened copper blank from which a durable trolley wheel may be pro duced by cold working operations, for example, such operations as shown and described in my application filed February 27, 1922, Serial Number 539,l58, for a method of makin trolley wheels, or according to the metho disclosed in my co-pending application filed on even date herewith. Trolley wheels are generally cast in brass and machined and have hubs adapted to be confined within trolle harp in rotatable engagement with the si es of the harp or in contact with conductors carried thereon. In lieu of brass I prefer to make a trolley wheel of pure unalloyed copper on account of its higher electrical conductivity. Copper also possesses other properties permitting it to be worked advantageously into a trolley wheel. However, the life and durability of a copper trolley wheel is governed largely by the degree of hardness imparted to the copper in making the wheel, and to obtain hardened wearing surfaces the copper may be worked cold in various ways. Gne way of making such a wheel involves the parting and spreading of a disk-shaped blank by a rolling pressure applied to and moving inward from the periphery of the blank toward its axis. This action partially divides the blank and forms two diverging flanges and a relatively deep annular groove in which the trolley wire is adapted to be seated. To facilitate making a trolley wheel in that manner and to provide a wheel body and hub ends of the requisite hardness and durability I develop and roduce a blank of particular construction y forging steps substantially as shown and described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing accompanying this ap lication, Fig. 1 is a side view of a cylindrical body of copper from which the blank is produced. Fig. 2 is a sectional view-of a 1922. Serial No. 559,704.

pair of dies for shaping the blank initially on the lines indicated, the blank being also shown in cross section within thedies. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the final shapingdies and a finished blank therein. Fig. 4 is a side view of the blank itself, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the completed blank in full lines, and showing the wheel developed therefrom in dotted lines.

Copper in an unalloyed state is a ductile, malleable, and very tenacious metal possessing a scleroscopic. hardness of approximately -15 magnified hammerwhen annealed or in a hot worked condition. In making a trolley wheel blank I place a block 2 of copper, preferably unalloyed as stated, between a pair of dies 33 in a hydraulic or other press and compress the block into the form of a round disk 4 having central enlargements or hubs 5. The circular body portion of the disk is contracted or reduced in thickness annularly at its juncture 6 with the hub portions to produce a round swell 7 in the body from which point the opposite sides of the body extend on straight converging lines toward the periphery to make this outer part of the body or blank substantially as thin as at its reduced portion 6. The hubs 5 in this first blank 4 are made hollow with their outer portions 8 relatively thin and tapered as compared with an inner offset portion 9 at their base ends, the object being to produce relatively long and thin hubs 5 on opposite sides of this blank in the first compressing and forming operation. Thus, when block 2 is compressed the metal is expanded laterally in respect to the medial line to form the disk-shaped body and also distended on opposite sides to form the relatively long hollow hubs, the metal flowing upon itself within the limits of the cavities in the dies and becoming harder due to that action and the high degree of compression occurring.

Blank 4 is then removed from the dies 3 and placed in a second set of dies 1010 having forming walls and cavities particularly shaped and designed to permit the disk portion of the body to be made thinner in part and expanded to a larger diameter and also to permit thehubs to e compressed to adifi'erent shape and hardened. Thus, the

dies are fashioned to compress the fiat tapering area of blank 4 between swell 7 and the periphery on partially rounded lines so as to produce a convex enlargement or swell 11 on opposite sides of the bodywhile expanding the peripheral portion of the blank to a larger diameter and reducing and thinning this peripheral portion on straight tapering lines. At the same time the elongated thin portions S'of the hubs 5 are also compressed and shortened, the metal involved in the end areas being crowded inward but confined to the outer ends of the hubs by reason of the offsets 9 at their base'and on account of the central die projections12 which determine and limit the flow or movement of the metal toward the medial line. In this way, the hubs are made harder at their outer ends Where the wear takes place when the trolley wheel is mounted within its harp, and it should be noted that this hard property is incorporated within and resides in the blank itself from which the trolley Wheel is eventually produced. Theoutside areas in thebody of the blank are also given a definite hardness by the successive steps taken in compressing and expanding the stock to make the blank, but other steps are required to produce a hard-faced annular groove within the peri heral portion ofthe blank.

hese groove-forming steps are fully described in the applications aforesaid and will not be described in detail herein inasmuch as the present invention resides in a new and novel form of blank from which a trolley wheel may be produced by either of the methods referred to. However, it should be understood that the convex swell or enlargement 11 present in the blank is produced therein for the definite purpose of permitting the blank body to be parted at its middle-by means of a parting tool or roller which in action is pressed against the peripheral edge while the blank is revolving rapidly. This pressure continues until the blank is partly divided and an annular flaring groove formed within the blank as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5. In this grooving operation the divided metal spreads apart and forms tapering side flan es 14 which have their base portions extending from and joined together within the convex swells or enlargements 11 at opposite sides of the body. The rounded form of these enlargements and the additional metal supplied thereby at this place in the body permits parting and spreading of the blank to a substantial depth without splitting or weakening the flanges at their juncture with the body, and the outer peripheral portion of the blank being relatively thinner than at the lace of these side enlargements greatly facilitates the division and spreading of the blank in the beginning and in carrying on such operations. In summary, the blank described herein is of especial utility and value in making a trolley wheel by cold Working methods; it may be made of copper or any other relatively soft and tenacious metal or alloy; the steps taken harden the blank and the ultimate product in vital wearing places; and the blank itself is a novel article or commodity adapted to be sold and used by manufacturers of trolley wheels. The blank may be marketed with the hubs recessed as shown, or an opening may be drilled completely through the body and hubs to receive a shaft or a bushing for a shaft and marketed in that form. What I claim is:

l. A trolley wheel blank made of ductile metal, comprising a disk-sha ed body withcentral hubs and annular en argements adacent said hubs.

3. A trolley wheel blank made of ductile metal, comprising a disk-shaped body having convex enlargements upon its opposite sides and central hubs provided with tapered recesses and an imperforated central portion.

4. A trolley wheel blank made of copper, comprising a disk-shaped body having hollow hub portions compressed and hardened at their outer ends.

5. A hardened trolley wheel blank, comprising a forged disk-shaped body of copper having hardened hub portions and rounded annular enlargements adjacent said hub portions.

6. A method of producing a trolley wheel blank, consisting in forging a body of ductile metal into a disk having hubs with tapered recesses and an imperfora-ted central portion and in compressing the hubs to a harder state at their outer ends than the disk.

'7. A method of producing a trolley wheel blank, consistingin forging a body of ductile metal into a disk having recessed hubs, and an imperforate-d central portion, and

then compressing the forged product more.

forming annular enlargements adjacent the hubs.

8. A method of producing a trolley wheel blank, consisting in forming a disk having hollow hubs from a body of ductile metal, and then re-shaping said hubs under pressure to harden the outer ends thereof.

9. A method of producing a hardened trolley wheel blank, consisting in forging a body of ductile metal into a disk having hollow hubs, in forming an annular swell in to a larger diameter in its peripheral por- 10 the area of the disk, and in compressing the tion, and in compressing and reshaping the hubs and hardening their outer ends. outer ends of the hubs.

10. A method of producing a blank for In testimony whereof I affix my signature 5 making trolley wheels, consisting in forging in presence of two witnesses.

a body of copper into disk-shape, and dis- WILLIAM S. BIDLE. tending the central portion of the disk into Witnesses: relatively long hollow hubs with separate GEO. E. KUCKER,

recesses, in compressing the disk thinner and DOROTHY Mosmz. 

